Trick Question
by StarlitHorizons
Summary: Ike hadn't always been friends with Marth, but it certainly felt like forever. Following the ups and downs of childhood usually built a lifelong bond with a person, some more powerful than others. Maybe along the way, they'd manage to build the most powerful one of all. Modern AU; One-Shot; IkexMarth


**A/N: **_"I see you producing a 10K+ one-shot easily, so instead, I'll imagine your future piece to be some epic 15-20K story that will become THE pinnacle of all that is the IkeMarth OTP. :P" - _SSBBSwords, after Heartstrings

I dunno about pinnacles of anything but this is _certainly a story between 15K and 20K. _

Really, this was supposed to happen on Christmas. I've been working on it on and off for about three days or so? But it's kind of horribly long and probably gets boring a little way in. _Oh well. _I finished it, and that's good enough for me ' v'/  
So late merry Christmas, from Starmy! Or happy holidays, or day that happens to be in December. It is always a good time for IkeMarth.

I haven't written in Ike's point of view before this, which is kind of odd, because I'm an Ike roleplayer, not a Marth one. But hopefully, this went well enough. Considering I think, like, at least 20% isn't even from Ike's POV and more form the general viewer of the world.

Also, this is entirely unbeta'd, and mostly written at four in the morning, so there will be mistakes. But I hope you will all enjoy, regardless, and will continue to leave me wonderful reviews! They make my day, they really do. / v\

* * *

**One-Shot: Trick Question**

* * *

Sometimes, Ike found himself reflecting on just how he managed to get into yet another stupid goddamn situation with no right answer. Similar to the trick questions of life, he supposed, and they came up an absurd amount of times. Especially to him. The universe was just fond, he supposed.

That was the only explanation he could come up with as to why he was leaning on a chipped picket fence that leaned slightly to the right, staring up at the sky as he tried to think over a question that very well may be life or death. At least, it felt like that, but he was just being overdramatic. Probably, anyways.

It could have started with that morning, when he opted to walk one way instead of another – or maybe last summer, when they went walking in the woods?

No, he surely had to go back further than that…

* * *

In the north, summers had been cooler; the breeze was more of an annoyance than a blessing, and it was more a gust than simple wind. The skies had seemed paler, though that might have been because of the constant cloud cover, or maybe just because he didn't bother to look there as much. The grass was greener, certainly, and there was an overwhelming aura of peace over everything.

It was _suffocating._

For an eight year old boy and a seven year old girl, it was more than that. Excruciating, maybe. They lived in a quiet neighborhood with quiet neighbors who lived quiet lives. School wasn't so bad; there, the other kids were just as bored as them, so they created games of any shape or form. Racing from one end of town to the other, seeing who could climb the tree the fastest and get down without any of the parents noticing, and trying to pluck old treasures from the deepest depths of the lake were common practice. But even those grew as tired as the rest of the town, so the children, isolated in their sanctuary, grew restless.

Their father, at the very least, was a competent man; even if he wasn't, then his wife could easily compensate. She'd noticed the signs the week before they appeared at all, and had consulted their father. They'd never been much for traveling, not after settling down there just before having their son, so of course they would get bored. It was a _safe _place, which was what a kid hated most: somewhere with no thrill, no risk. Boring. _Dull. _

She'd decided that the best thing to do was to send them off where they could both be useful and entertained. Down further south, a rather good hike away, their aunt lived in a fairly-sized town where everybody knew everybody. While they wouldn't fit right in, they would certainly draw a fair amount of attention; perhaps they could even make a new friend. Worst case scenario, they would realize there were things worse than boredom here, and they could stay. Best case scenario, they had children out of their hair for every summer to come. Win-win.

Being children, they didn't get much say in this, but they were obedient enough and typically didn't see much harm in going adventuring. The boy had a little trouble letting go of his mother when his father left with them in the car, and the girl cried a little when she last hugged her father, but they both allowed themselves to be ushered into Aunt Titania's domain for the first time with nary a tantrum.

They'd met their aunt several times in the past, of course – and she wasn't really their aunt, but a close friend that just adopted the title. Or perhaps it was given to her, no one could really remember; she simply always had been, and probably always would be. Regardless, she was as satisfactory as their parents; she was fair, and didn't ask for them to do more than they could handle. They were to clean up after themselves but didn't have to do anything too difficult just yet. They could play as long as they wanted, but at night they were to restrict themselves to the house and as far as the back fence. And most importantly, they weren't to disturb her when she was sleeping unless it was an emergency; after some questioning, they managed to narrow 'emergency' down to particularly scary monsters under beds (even if they insisted they had outgrown it), fires in the house, odd people, odd events, and nightmares. Asking for a cookie, showing a bug, and asking her favorite color did not constitute emergencies. They committed this to memory.

It took them about a day to become accustomed to their new surroundings, which weren't too different from what they were used to. It was roughly the same size, still had an upstairs and a downstairs, still had a kitchen, still had them sharing a room, still had a front porch with a swing. Different were the wallpaper, the smell of snapdragons, the straight, crisp white picket fence, and the large backyard that came along with it. Large to a child's world, at least. It was well suited for their games, and with the new surroundings, they created new challenges to face; this alone managed to enthrall them all over again, and it almost seemed to be enough for the rest of the summer.

But as fate would have it, the straight picket fence wasn't entirely straight; there was one board that was a bit loose, and it swung a little bit to the side if persuaded enough. A small hand happened to be persuasive enough to move it; that small distance alone was enough to make the nail squeal, and the owner of said hand flinched.

The two siblings were broken from their spell, and two sticks, locked midair in swordfight, froze as they both whipped their gazes to land on this newcomer, who hesitated. Shyly, they retreated for just a moment, before pushing the plank further out of the way and revealing a curious face.

His curious eyes landed on the son, and their eyes met.

And that must have been the beginning.

* * *

Ike had enough friends to satisfy him, and even if he got lonely, Mist was more than enough to keep him busy. Even so, he didn't often see new faces, so this was an oddity in itself. Blinking slowly, he lowered his weapon from where it had been clashing against his sister's and studied this other boy, who seemed to be doing the same to him. He was taller, though he seemed to fidget with the fence a bit and shuffle his feet beneath him.

It was Mist who spoke first. "Hi!" she greeted cheerfully, smiling brightly. The boy glanced over to her as she broke the silence, though Ike kept his gaze centered on him still.

He smiled with slight shyness, edging past the fence with more solid steps. "Hi," he replied softly, his gaze moving to Ike again and then swiftly back to Mist. Maybe the lack of response intimidated him a bit, but considering he was bigger, that seemed a bit silly. "Did you just move in? Hardly anyone comes around, and I've never seen you before, so I…"

"We're visiting our auntie for the summer!" Mist explained. Her smile softened as she loosened the branch in her grasp and stepped over to the gap in the fence. "My name's Mist. That's Ike. But he doesn't talk much and he's a loser, so-"

"Hey!" Ike interjected with a frown, trotting over to stand beside his smaller sister. "Am not. I was just _thinking, _gee whizz. Who're you?" he asked bluntly, looking up at the other boy. He didn't have to angle his head much to take him in, but he was a good inch or so taller. His hair was a lighter blue than his own, and the smooth strands were far more orderly than his spikes. The eyes that came to be focused on him again were lighter than his, as well, and he seemed just a bit paler. This was stupid, he thought, because the sun was so much brighter here, but he didn't say anything about it.

"I'm Marth," the boy replied, fixing him with the same smile that he'd given Mist. "I live next door. Uh, well, I guess that was kinda obvious, but…" He trailed off with slight hesitance, glancing aside.

Ike paused for a moment at this, but he broke out into a warm smile, thrusting a hand forward. "Nice to meet ya, then!" he replied pleasantly, tilting his head a bit. "We're from up in Gaul. It's kind of boring there, I guess, so we came here instead. Just for the summer, though."

Marth seemed a little taken aback by Ike's sudden liveliness, but recovered quickly, taking his hand in a softer one and giving it a surprisingly firm shake. "Oh… My father goes up there for business, sometimes," he said somewhat thoughtfully. "But that's whenever he needs to, not just the summer or anything, um..." He released Ike's hand, glancing aside uneasily and shifting once more. "I mean, it's not very exciting here, either. There's a lake out in the woods, and a playground, but there are a lot of mean kids near the playground and the woods are kinda scary, so… "

The two siblings glanced at each other at this, Mist blinking and Ike raising an eyebrow. What did he do for fun, then? The bluenette glanced up at Marth again, pursing his lips slightly. "Well, you're here," he pointed out, idly tapping his branch against his leg. "And that's not up in Gaul, so here's less boring." He smiled again, and it seemed to be the taller boy's turn to be astonished once again. "Do you want to play with us?"

He hesitated for a few long moments, and Ike almost thought he was going to say no. As Marth frowned and glanced around and picked at the fence a little bit, he almost regretted asking in the _first place_ – but then he gave such a warm smile that he was glad once again. "That sounds like fun. What are you playing?" he finally replied, stepping through the gap and replacing the spare board.

"Swordfight!" Mist replied with a wide grin, brandishing her weapon again and turning to thwack Ike on the head with it. Her brother had been expecting such an attack as soon as she moved, however, and blocked it with his own stick. "It's like, uh… what did Daddy call it, again?" she asked her brother when they lowered their weapons again, sticking her bottom lip out in thought.

"Fencing," Ike replied helpfully, handing his stick over to Marth, who examined it in slight interest. "You have to poke the other person in the chest to get a point and the person with the most points when we get tired wins. Or sometimes we set up a limit, it depends. Dad said we're not old enough to get actual swords," he explained to their company, "so we use sticks instead. They're practically the same, so-"

"Well, the balance on this one is kinda off," Marth mumbled, taking a few steps back and flicking the makeshift weapon through the air with ease. "And all the little twigs make it slower…"

He trailed off in thought, bringing it closer and snapping off said impediments. When he was done, he flicked it through the air again, and it made small whooshing noises as it cut through the air. He smiled, bringing it closer with a small nod to himself, and then looked up at the other two with a bright little smile. It immediately vanished when he realized they were staring at him somewhat blankly, and his face flushed pink. "O-Oh, um… um, well, it was fine before, but I was just… sorry, I-"

"How do you know that?" Ike asked him in slight awe, regarding the other slightly differently now. He held the branch differently than Mist or himself, and it seemed more like an extension of his arm than something his arm used. "Or do that?"

"Oh, um…" Marth stared hard down at the ground, shuffling his feet again. "My… My father taught me how to fence when I was younger, so, uh…"

"How old are you?" Mist prompted, smiling with her typical cheer and stepping a bit closer to him again. "Oh, and will you try out mine? I bet it's better than Ike's, he was always rubbish at picking out swords-"

"Oh, _don't _pretend like you know what you're talking about!" he argued, but Mist stuck his tongue out at him.

"Yours always break, though!"

"I'm ten," Marth interrupted gently, taking Mist's branch in his hand and offering Ike his back again. Once it was out of his grip, he considered the other one with great care. The other two were so expectant with his judgment that their squabble ended, and there was a momentary silence between all of them.

"Well, yours is better balanced, but I think it's kinda light, even for you," Marth noted critically, snipping off loose ends and brandishing his new weapon. "And it's bendier, which doesn't make for a very good sword, but that's alright for a stick." He smiled over at both of them again, this time with more confidence.

Mist pouted a bit at this report, taking her sword back and looking at it with slight disappointment while Ike considered his previous statement. "When's your birthday?" he asked, blinking a few times.

Marth paused at this, replying simply, "April twentieth."

"Ohh, that's why," Ike murmured thoughtfully, bouncing his branch between his hands. "Because, I mean, you're taller than me, but you're not _that _much taller… I turn nine in October," he added, in an attempt to clarify his confusion. "Mist is eight in November." Okay, that was unnecessary, but felt right to mention.

The other boy gave a soft giggle, however, and simply nodded. "Gotcha," he replied, and then gazed around the yard. He trotted over and picked up another branch, modifying it to suit his needs and flicking it around again. "Well… do you want to play, then?"

This new playmate lasted them all day. They took a break for the sandwiches Titania set out on the back porch for lunch, introducing her to their new playmate and then getting right back to playing. They didn't stop until the sun began to go down and a loud yell came from the other yard. "Marth?! Get back inside, it's time for dinner!"

The boy, who'd just poked his weapon into Ike's chest, laughing in triumph, jumped and looked over to the house like a guilty criminal. "Oh! Oh… I guess I have to go, now," he murmured, looking back to his Ike and Mist sheepishly. "Will I see you two tomorrow?"

"Of course," they responded at the same time, and they glanced at each other before looking back to Marth, smiling.

"We'll be here all summer," Ike assured him, and Mist nodded.

"And we'll always play with you!" she added cheerfully, which seemed to bright Marth up again.

Setting his stick down, he replied, "Alright. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then. Goodnight!" And then he disappeared through the hole in the fence and the siblings were left alone once more.

That first summer was probably the most peaceful, because that was about all that happened. They met Marth, and they grew from a mischievous pair to an even more mischievous trio. While Marth seemed more mild-mannered in the beginning, he soon went along with more of the schemes, although their fun and games were limited to the neighborhood. They raced up and down, sometimes, and continued to swordfight in the backyard, or played other make-believe games. It was just a thing kids did. Sometimes, they would just talk, though; Ike and Marth more than either of them with Mist, because boys were simply like that. Mist preferred Titania's company, anyways.

Summer passed by much faster here, but they weren't entirely sure if it was because of the heat, or because of the illusion that summer was around longer; it was still warm when they planned to leave. It was surprisingly painful; they'd both grown fond of their time with their aunt, and their new friend especially. Marth seemed reluctant to let them leave as well, and when their father came to take them back home, he chased their car all the way to the end of the neighborhood before he simply stood there, waving wildly.

But they would come back.

* * *

The second year was one where Ike discovered many talents. More specifically, those of strength and of courage, where he would be the one to squash spiders for Mist and the one to drive bullies away from her. He also discovered how easy it was to get lost in the woods, and how cold a winter night was when you were alone and afraid. His father's anger wasn't something that he'd never seen before, but that was just as frightening all the same; his mother's arms had never been more comforting.

The year was enjoyable, but even so, he found that he was waiting with more and more anticipation for summer to come. Less for the promise of freedom, which he was never lacking, but more for the promise of _Marth. _He hadn't been able to speak with his friend in almost a year, after all, and much could happen in a year – including a foil and a promise at the chance to try later styles in years to come. That was _also _when he discovered that his father was some sort of sword master, and he had much more to learn.

Perhaps it was because of his excitement that summer was so sluggish in coming, especially considering they were out a week earlier than the year previous. This also meant that Marth would be in school a week longer than them, so on their first day visiting, he and Mist made the decision to meet him at school.

It was a relatively cool day, all things considered, and a pleasant one, at that. After getting directions from Titania, Mist led Ike through to the school. He wouldn't have been able to make it on his own, after all; he was hopeless. All the while they'd been talking and wondering out loud about childish things, about the invention of new games and whether or not Marth would practice with Ike, until they came upon the school.

It was an odd little gathering, there; a small group of children, all larger than Ike by a bit and intimidating, were crowded up against and around another. This one was a bit taller than all of the others, as well, but was lanky enough that it didn't matter. He carried himself with slight hesitance, but judging by the look on his face, it wasn't by choice. He backed up a little bit, shifting the books he held in his arms as he tried to search for a gap through the jeering mass, once again appearing a bit like a trapped animal.

"What's the matter?" sneered one near the front, who was wearing a rather stupid looking hat, if Ike could say so. "Just going to go run and hide again? Go cry to your big sister, 'save me, save me!' Maybe you should just stay there, you know! Not like it would make much of a difference."

Ugly snickers followed this, and Ike paused in his tracks, considering the scene. Who would gang up on a kid like that? For what purpose? If anything, they must really deserve it, but… upon closer observation, he immediately bristled.

_Marth?_

It wasn't until almost the entire crowd had turned their eyes onto him that he realized he'd spoken aloud, and for a moment he was struck dumb by just what he'd gotten himself into. After the initial shock, however, he bristled again, stepping forward against Mist's soft wishes.

"Leave him alone!" he spat, narrowing his eyes dangerously and coming to a stop just in front of most of them. "Or can't you do something better than pick on someone?"

A few of the kids glanced at one another, uneasy, but a majority of them simply laughed at him. "Oh, what's this?" said the first, stepping over to him. He was a bit round, and his eyes were small and beady. He wore what looked like a uniform, and it blended in oddly with the rather casual attire of the other children, which was just another reason for Ike to feel ill at ease. "Has Marth got a little friend? A baby like him, I presume?"

"Ike, please don't," Marth said softly from behind the boy, but Ike simply glanced at him for a moment before straightening up in front of the bully. He wasn't that tall. Probably the shortest there, actually, and he seemed suddenly vividly aware of it.

"Funny, the biggest baby I see here is right in front of me," he replied coldly, which earned, oddly, a few snickers from around them. "But yes, in fact, I _am _his friend."

The boy blinked a little bit at this, frowning and trying to swell himself up. He failed miserably, but kept talking anyways. "You act more like his mother. You're not even from around here, are you, shrimp?"

There was a momentary pause from Ike, who raised an eyebrow slowly. "… Shrimp. Shrimp? You usually try and call people _shorter _than you that, you know. It doesn't make you scary when you say it to someone bigger. It just makes you look kind of dumb. Not that you need any help with that," he said instead. It was obvious enough that he wasn't from here, after all. In small towns where everyone knew everyone, this included people that didn't belong.

"You're one to talk," the other retorted, but seemed to be less confident of himself without a crowd behind him. "But who are you," he said, poking Ike hard in the chest, "to tell me who to do, hm? You're not from here, so I'll fill you in: I make the rules around here. I do _whatever I want. _Get it?"

Ike stared blankly at him, raising his eyebrows slowly. "… Aren't you in, like, the fourth grade? What? Does your mommy let you set your own bedtime?" he replied, watching with satisfaction as the boy's eyes narrowed. "I mean, I know that's a _lot of responsibility and all, _but don't let it get to your head, cha-"

"Shut up," he spat suddenly, scowling. "You shut up, or I'll _make you._"

"Woah, De," one of the children in the crowd called in a warning tone. "Slow down there, no need to-"

"Ike, please, don't-" Marth continued to plead, at the same time Mist said, "Ike, this is stupid, Auntie's going to get so mad-"

"How?" he said instead, narrowing his eyes once more. "Please, I'd love to kno-"

The other kid's fist was surprisingly hard for how soft he seemed to be, especially when it connected with his mouth. Ike's eyes widened, and he didn't manage to flinch out of the way in time. He stood there silently for a moment before he spat out the front baby tooth that had just loosened and a bit of blood that had mixed with his saliva. De seemed satisfied.

"See? Not so much talk now, are you?" he jeered, and the crowd that slowly moved to encircle them cheered. "Shut you right up, I did."

Ike slowly turned back to look at the boy, running his tooth over the gap as he considered him. He wasn't tall, as he pointed out before, and even if he hit hard, he didn't look very balanced. In fact, his stance was rather off, so if he just…

"What's the matter? Not going to lecture me for hurting dear old Marthy's feelings? I guess you are a baby a-"

De promptly shut his mouth when a harder, stronger fist suddenly connected with his eye, and he screamed, his hands immediately moving up to cover the already swelling area. Of course, this left his stomach wide open for when Ike kicked at it, and he doubled over forwards, making it easy for him to be pushed to the ground, crying out in equal pain and shock. The crowd around him was silent when he kneeled down next to the whimpering boy.

"Now, listen," he said conversationally, staring hard at the crumpled boy on the concrete. "I'm not around here, so you have to know that I follow the rules I know. And those rules say that my friends _will not _be made fun of, picked on, hurt, or otherwise bullied, whether I'm around or not. _Especially _not by people who do so just to feel like they're better than everyone else." He stood slowly, his eyes narrowing in disgust. "I don't live far up the road, you know. So make sure you commit that rule to memory: _You leave Marth alone. _Got it? _Got it?_" he repeated more harshly as only silence greeted him.

"I- I got it…" came the weak reply from below, and he nodded, turning towards his friend and stepping through the thin, parting crowd.

"Wanna go home now?" he asked, looking up at the friend who had some sort of growth spurt and who was staring at him with a mixture of disbelief, shock, admiration, and horror.

"I… Yeah," he finally decided on, blinking a few times. "Let's go home."

Ike smiled warmly at this, turning back to where he'd left Mist and parting the silent crowd once again. He picked up his tooth as he went by, calling behind him, "Thanks, by the way. The tooth was starting to bug me."

All of the kids seemed to watch him leave before they converged on De, but by that point, Ike was already walking with Mist on one side of him and Marth on the other and examining his front tooth with mild interest.

"Oh my God, Ike, you're so dumb," Mist groaned, shaking her head. "Titania's going to hear about this sooner or later, and you're going to be in so much-"

"I'm gunna tell her," Ike replied simply, glancing over at his sister and raising an eyebrow. "I mean, she's going to want to know how I lost the tooth, I guess. Might as well let her know before somebody else does."

"We've literally been here _one day. One day _and you've made an enemy," she pouted, whereas Ike huffed.

"I mean, if he wasn't so mean then I wouldn't had to-"

"You didn't have to do that," Marth said, interrupting his thoughts and causing him to look over to him. He wore a somewhat peculiar expression, as if he was ashamed or embarrassed, and his voice was surprisingly firm. "You really shouldn't have, actually. He's just a big jerk, and you shouldn't get in trouble over me. And I could've handled it by myself," he added, glancing towards the ground again.

Ike studied him for a few long moments, frowning a little bit. "… I know you could've handled it," he finally said, blinking slowly. "Were those the kids by the playground last year? The ones that were always mean to you?"

He didn't receive a response, so he took it as a yes. "And, well yes, I should have. And I did, so there's nothing should'a-would'a-could'a can do about it, because it's already done. And that's that, really. You're my friend, Marth," he added, looking back to the slightly bloody tooth in his hand again. "I'm not gunna let someone be mean to you. Especially when they're actually wimps, because _wow. _I almost feel _bad._" It was a pretty pitiful display, after all.

After a moment or two of silence, Ike slowly looked back over at Marth again, but was relieved to see him smiling. "… I'm glad you came to visit again, Ike," he said gently. Not softly and quietly, like he did last year. His voice had substance, now. "Thank you."

"No biggie," he replied, smiling a single-toothless smile. "But if somebody ends up beating me up, I expect you to be my backup, yeah?"

Now, the other boy laughed softly, nodding. "Of course."

"If Titania beats him up, though, you can laugh at him with me," Mist offered with a warm smile before looking to Ike more seriously. "Does your mouth hurt? It looks all puffy…"

Ike considered the question for a moment or two longer, and then shrugged a little bit. "I mean, I guess, kinda. Not that bad, though. Falling off my bike hurt more." He glanced down at the still-healing scab on his arm as he said this, but simply left it at that. Mist did, too, and even though he felt like it would be better with him telling Titania everything, he had the sneaking suspicion that he might regret it. At least a little bit.

And he did. But at the same time, he didn't regret much of anything. At first, she'd been full of concern and had helped him clean his mouth up quite a bit, giving him a napkin to stop the bleeding and some ice for the bruise, but the scolding came soon after. It was as harsh as he'd ever received from the woman, and she could get _fierce _if she so desired – such as now. It was nothing compared to what his father dealt out to him, though, and she lessened herself in front of Marth because he was company. In the end, she simply studied him, with his slightly bruised knuckle and swollen mouth, and she sighed softly.

"Really, what you should learn," she said, "is that it's usually better to solve problems with your words, not your fists. That all being said… I'm proud. And when I tell your father – which I will," she added, at his slightly more stricken look, "I'm sure he'll understand why you did what you did. Now, go on. I have things to do, and Rhys is coming over to visit, so I have to make sure it looks presentable."

Mist remained inside the kitchen to discuss Rhys with Titania as the two boys hurried outside, into the safety of the backyard. Ike sighed a little bit when they were in the sun again, dropping the ice from his face and leaving it in the porch.

"It's kinda weird," he noted vaguely, and he caught Marth's questioning glance before he even sent it. "I mean, the not having one tooth thing. I've lost other baby teeth before, but not my front… And now whenever I make a 's', it kinda whistles. Weird." He smiled back at the other boy again, shaking his head. "I hope you don't mind us coming to walk you home from school, by the way. We just figured that since we were here…"

"Oh, no, of course not," Marth replied, eyes widening a bit as he crossed his arms. He'd left all of his school things up in the kids' bedroom, and was now empty-handed. "I mean, I think just having you around is going to be enough to scare them off for a bit. De's a scaredy-cat, anyways. You might just be haunting his dreams forever, now."

Ike felt his chest swell with pride a little bit, and he grinned. "Well, I'd hope so! I might just pop out of an alleyway at any time, after all. He'd better watch his back. I mean, not that there aren't enough people doing that already, I guess."

"Oh, them," Marth scoffed, stepping over to the top of the hill at the end of the yard and flopping down on the grass. "They just follow whoever makes the most noise, you know? Kind of like him, except instead of being all talk, that's what they like. I'm sure if someone ended up being a bigger bully than De, they'd just follow them, instead. I call them the Waddle Dee's," he added, eyes shining mischievously. "All they do is waddle after him all the time, like a bunch of hungry ducks."

Ike blinked a little bit at this before he laughed softly, stepping over to sit beside him, leaning back against the picket fence. "You know, I can really see it," he replied, smiling over at him. "Sounds like a terrifying gang, too, we'd better watch out!"

They both laughed about this, and then moved onto other topics; they talked of fencing, about school, about the chances of Ike's survival after his father found out. For days afterwards, they escaped any confrontation with any sort of De, and their territory expanded out to the playground, too. It was a small, rickety old place, but it was plenty of room and an incredible chance for new games. Ike wasn't sure if De just saw them coming when they started towards it, or if he just avoided the place altogether. Either way, he was satisfied, and the rest of the summer gave him time to get used to his whistling tooth and his new reputation.

This time, Marth ran with him all the way to the school, and they exchanged family phone numbers. They wouldn't be able to talk all the time, but it was better than complete silence.

* * *

In the next year, the lessons that came to Ike were: history was dull and boring, he was most certainly not an artist, and his mother loved to sing enough that she was willing to teach him, too. It wasn't too difficult, all things considered, and he caught on rather fast. Needless to say, it was also enjoyable, if not a bit difficult when you were missing a key component in 's.'

His father hadn't been happy when he found out about his squabble in the beginning of summer, certainly, but he'd been as fair as Titania knew he would be; Ike got off with a lecture, but also a mention of how he did the right thing. Just to make sure he didn't go beating everyone up in the future. That started wars; it didn't end them.

Among all of this, summer slowly crawled back again, and he found himself missing the aching heat of the south more than he was anticipating. The car ride there was excruciating, and Marth would be in school, again. The elementary school went to grade eight here, due to how small the school was, but even if Marth was only in fifth, it meant the climb to high school would be soon in coming. He was nervous for his friend, but also a bit relieved; being a grade above him meant that he had someone else to test the waters.

This year was a bit stranger, because it was _Ike's _turn for a growth spurt; the two of them were nearly equal in height, now, with Marth leading by a couple centimeters. That being said, Marth was still leading in terms of fencing; Ike was behind by a few years, after all, and Marth was more accustomed to the sword. They faced off rather often, after walking Marth home from school and during the lazy days that followed that. He reported that De hadn't been bothering him in the slightest, even going so far as to _run _at the sight of Marth. All of the Waddles would follow him, if only because they didn't know what else to do or because they liked laughing at them. Neither of them was sure.

As such, their territory was just as wide as last year, but Ike found himself looking towards the woods on the other side of the picket fence rather often. Absolutely not, Marth had said. He could not be paid to go anywhere near those woods because there were monsters and cannibals – he'd asked him to clarify what that was – and traps and all sorts of horrible things inside. Personally, Ike wasn't so sure, but he found himself simply hovering around the edge of it. His last rendezvous in the forest was still achingly fresh in his memory, and he didn't want to test his survival skills again.

But Marth was much better at directions that he was, so he'd pestered him rather often. Mist refused to have anything to do with it all, and seemed to be gravitating elsewhere, anyhow. She often spent time with Titania and Rhys and sometimes Marth's sister, Elice, even though she was far older than all of them. The distance didn't bother Ike too much, though; they'd both known that it would happen eventually, and simply went on with their business as normal. They were still _there, _after all.

Much like the forest, though that was much more taunting.

"I bet," he said as he pulled himself over the fence, standing up on the pegs and staring out into the expanse, "that there's a bunch of really cool things in there. Like foxes, or deer, or rabbits…"

"We're not going out into the woods," Marth repeated for the zillionth time, closing the book in his lap and craning his neck back to look at his friend. "You're going to break that fence, one day."

"That day is probably not today," he replied, crouching down to knock on it a few times before straightening again. "But if we did, I know where we could get some wood to replace it."

"Okay, that's not even a real _reason,_" Marth pointed out in exasperation, but he pulled himself up to stand beside him, tossing his book to the ground. "What's your fascination, anyways? I don't get it."

"I dunno," Ike replied truthfully, shrugging his shoulders a little bit. "Honest. I guess it just reminds me of home; there's a forest just like this outside of my house, but the trees are smaller there and it's not as big. Not as old. So this would be kind of neat to see, I guess." He thought for a few moments, looking over to the other bluenette with a teasing smile. "Why are you so against the idea?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Marth frowned a little bit, tapping his foot against the surprisingly-sturdy wood. That could go with some repainting, sometime soon. "I dunno," he replied lamely, narrowing his eyes towards the area. "It just gives me the creeps, you know? Like… there's something _off _about it, somehow. As if something bad will happen if I go in there alone…"

"Well, you wouldn't be alone," Ike pointed out, slipping off the fence and landing on the other side, staring at the trees again before going back to his friend. "I'd be there to beat up any boogeymen for you, after all, because I'm your hero." He grinned cheekily at this, and then whipped around taking a few steps closer and setting his hands on his hips. "Maybe if I just go in a small bit, so I can still see you or the house, or something…"

"Oh, so help me, if you're going to get yourself lost in side of it then you might as well take me along," Marth groaned, and Ike grinned once again when he realized his victory, running towards the treeline with a whoop.

He waited for his friend there, however, considering for a moment before taking his hand and pushing forward. There was a rather clear pathway worn through it, and it wound through the trees like a river. Occasionally, there was some foliage overgrowing it that they had to push through or avoid, but all in all it was rather peaceful. Sunshine shone through the leaves brightly, dappling the ground in shadows and light alike; Ike blamed how painfully _powerful _the sun was here for it all.

"See? Not so bad," he said, breaking the silence between them and squeezing Marth's hand gently. "The path isn't even that hard to see, so we can just follow it back when we want to leave." He looked back at him, smiling again, and watched as his friend seemed to try and sort out what he wanted to portray.

After a few long moments of confliction, he showed what could only be resignation and shrugged. "I suppose so," he murmured softly, gazing around before looking back to Ike again. "It could be _worse _and far creepier… just watch your step, okay? I don't want us tripping over any plant roots while we go."

Ike brightened at this again, feeling his chest lift as he looked ahead, mindful of anything that would impede them too much. They wove out of the way of overhanging branches, twisting roots, and the stray bush. It was a lovely little way, really, and he wondered why more people didn't seem to come that way; maybe it was because it was such a simple little path? He couldn't imagine that it went too deep, after all, and walking the same path all the time must be kind of boring.

After a while, the path ahead of them cleared and widened enough that he allowed his gaze to wander, searching for hidden pathways off to the side. A few times he thought he spotted some, and he was tempted to go explore them – this was especially true when one appeared to be much more pronounced than the others, but for Marth's own peace of mind, he decided to keep moving forward.

Of course, this had been assuming the path went on forward, which it most certainly did _not. _He realized this around the same time Marth did; the other hissed in a breath in his ear, and the grip on his hand tightened.

That wasn't quite enough to stop the force of gravity. It didn't stop the lack of friction on the leaves beneath his feet from acting out, either. His hand slipped from Marth's, and he shot the other a somewhat panicked look over his shoulder before he went tumbling down the steep slope with a sharp cry. He felt roots and stones snag at him as he fell, tugging at his clothes and tearing at his skin, and there was one particularly rude one that made harsh contact with the back of his head, and he didn't feel much after that.

_"… up…"_

_"… Come… Ike…"_

_"Please…"_

He did feel, however, when he became vaguely aware of something shaking his shoulder, and he scrunched up his face a little bit. His head hurt, and his body felt like lead, and no, he did _not _want to get up, or wake up, no matter how nicely they-

"I… Ike…"

Slowly, he opened up his eyes again, squinting into the face of a fearful Marth, who immediately smiled in relief. "Ah..! Ike, are you okay?" he asked softly, getting down onto his knees beside his fallen friend. Ike realized that he was on his back, then, and when Marth shifted him to help him sit up, he groaned.

"Nn... Weren't we just… walking…?" he asked in confusion, looking up at his best friend. He was spinning a bit, actually, and the concern was back on his face again. He wondered why that was… had he said something odd?

"Don't you… You just fell down that hill, Ike," Marth explained gently, letting him get his bearings on his shoulder again. "Neither of us noticed that we stepped off the pathway…"

"Oh…" he mumbled, closing his eyes again. Everything was going around in very disorientating circles, and he sluggishly attempted to focus on Marth's words instead of that. And the pounding in his head. Neither was pleasant. "So we're… at the bottom of the hill, now?" He felt Marth nod a little bit, and he looked up at him again, thinking hard for a few moments. "… How will we get back up?"

Marth's features seemed to freeze a little bit at this, and he could see the wheels turning in his head. The other boy's hand gently reached up and seemed to search the back of his head for something; eventually, it reached a spot where Ike flinched away, grimacing and letting out a soft whine. The contact created a sharp flash a pain that wasn't helping much with the headache.

"… I'm going to take us home, okay, Ike?" Marth said gently, shifting him a little bit. Suddenly, he was being held in Marth's arms, one of the older boy's arms beneath his knees and the other holding his torso to his chest. "… Geez, you're light… but… don't worry, alright? I'll get us out of here just fine. There's a path over here, see? If we go up it, then we can get out again, and Rhys is probably there, and he can look you over…"

Being lifted into the other's arms was a strangely comforting action, and Ike leaned his head gently against Marth's shoulder, closing his eyes again. "… Okay, Marth," he said quietly, trying to will his headache away. It didn't work. "Why does Rhys have to look me over, though…?"

Marth didn't reply for a few moments, and he was about to look up at him again when he finally replied, "Because you hit your head a little bit when you were going down, but everything's okay." He sounded so sure of it that it must have been true. Ike relaxed again, nodding a bit and sighing.

"Okay," he mumbled, and then fell silent once more. He could hear Marth's heartbeat from this position, and it was almost as steady as the other's footsteps. He wondered how strong the other was, since Mist said that she could never carry him, and his father said that he was getting heavier because he was getting stronger…

"Marth?" he said a few moments later. Maybe a few minutes. He wasn't entirely sure.

The other jumped a little bit in response to this, and he felt his heart skip a little bit. "Yes?"

"I'm sleepy…" he mumbled, and he childishly reached a hand up to clutch at Marth's shirt. "Can I take a nap…?"

There was a stretched out silence that followed, and he heard the other swallow a little bit. "On one condition," he replied gently, and it was odd how Ike could feel it vibrate in his chest a little bit. He simply replied with an expectant silence, and Marth sighed again. "You have to wake up," he continued. "At least, when I ask you to. Okay? Can you do that?"

Ike blinked his eyes open slowly at this, looking up at his friend, who seemed strangely anxious. He couldn't understand _why, _because he just wanted to take a nap was all, but he nodded, anyways. "Yeah," he replied simply, leaning his head back against the other and closing his eyes again. "I can do that, Marth…"

"Do you promise?" The words were so urgent that they made Ike pause momentarily.

"… I promise."

Marth nodded a little bit at this, shifting his grip on the slightly smaller boy a bit. "… Then get some rest, Ike…"

He faded off again, and when he opened up his eyes again, Marth was looking over him again, but with a much gentler smile. "See," he said to someone Ike couldn't see, "I told you he'd wake up. He'll be alright, won't he?"

And he would be, because the person Marth was talking to ended up being Rhys, who did a rather thorough check up and decided he had a mild concussion. Which meant that a few weeks of that summer ended up being slow, and comprised of mostly talking and Marth mothering him in all sorts of ways.

"No, we cannot try and climb the roof, are you crazy?"

"Maybe we can go into the woods later, but you said you were tired, and you need rest!"

"You're not supposed to fence until you feel better, Ike!"

It was never ending, and annoying sometimes, even though he knew he was right. But where was the fun in that sort of thing? Thankfully, he was fine with time to spare, so there was plenty of time for foils and wandering through the forest and climbing on roofs. That was the added bonus: Marth didn't seem too concerned with boogeymen in the trees anymore. Now, it was just keeping Ike away from hills and pits.

When that summer drew to an end, it was actually the one where they tried to sneak Marth into the trunk, and it almost worked. Their father found out almost at the end of town, and he had to drive Marth back to his house before continuing on back home again.

The next year was largely uneventful; Ike began practicing with both epee and foil in his spare time, and his mother continued to teach him to sing. Mist joined him rather often, teasing when he didn't quite reach a note or his voice broke a little bit. Slowly and steadily, they continued maturing, and Ike began to learn to look before he leapt while Mist learned the importance of kindness.

The next summer was just as uneventful as the year, and the kids all referred to it as the "sleeping year" because of how dull it seemed to be. Perhaps the biggest thing that happened was that Ike finally seemed to catch up to Marth, and they were now dead even. Marth was still faster than Ike, though, but the younger boy was very quickly surpassing him in strength. It was an odd trade-off, really; whereas Marth could easily carry Ike back last year, now Ike could easily sprint through the trees with Marth on his back, ready for their next big adventure.

The next few years were eventful once again, but somehow, they didn't stick out as vividly in Ike's mind as the others. After the sleeping year, he finally grew taller than Marth, and the two of them spent more time exploring the woods than ever. Marth was always their guide back home, because he had a sense of direction like some sort of compass, and Ike often teased that he'd stolen all of his.

That was also the year when he found a black, stray kitten in the woods, and Marth had been utterly delighted.

"Oh, Ike, it's so cute!" He stepped up to his friend, smiling somewhat hesitantly at the black bundle in his arms. "Can I…?"

"Go ahead," Ike replied with a small smile, stepping forward and nodding a bit. "I doubt he'll bite. At least, not very hard…"

Marth shot him a _very-funny _look, but then smiled, gently stroking the kitten's head. It gave a small squeak in response, and he smiled warmly at it. "How do you _do _that?" he asked his friend, looking back up at him with bright eyes.

Ike blinked a little bit at this, giving an almost sheepish smile in response as he tilted his head. "Uh… do what, exactly?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"The thing with animals. I mean, if I tried to come up to a cat like this, it'd run as soon as it _thought _I was coming close…" he replied, shaking his head a little bit. "Don't even pretend you don't know what I'm talking about… or that you don't do it on purpose. It's a talent that you _use. _Actively. Almost like you're trying to show me up, or something." Marth's smile turned rather teasing then, and Ike smirked a bit.

"Well, I have to have something," he replied, shaking his slightly. "You're better than me at foil, but I'm better at epee, and you're better than me at baking, though I'm better than you at getting _lost_. So I'm allowed to be an animal tamer."

Marth scoffed in response to this, even as Ike gently transferred the animal from his arms to the other's. "Your better at singing than me, too," he replied, his fingers gently trailing over the animal's fur again. "And… you're better than me at intimidating people, and getting your teeth knocked out." He grinned teasingly at Ike again, who made a face at him. There was only a single gap, now, from where his last baby tooth had come out – oddly enough, it was still one near the front, which gave a contradictory image. His face seemed strangely older than he was, so that he looked as old as Marth or older, but the tooth missing gave a younger expression, too. Or maybe just someone that got into a lot of fights, he wasn't entirely sure.

"And you're best at convincing Titania we're precious little angels, especially when she finds that the fence now has a funny tilt to it," he replied, laughing softly.

"Hey, it gives it personality!" Marth replied, and he laughed gently; it was one that Ike always loved, and one that made him know everything was alright.

He wondered why it made his heart beat in such a strange way.

* * *

The next time such a thing happened was the year after, when they actually went into Marth's house for the first time. Perhaps it was strange that it took so long for it to happen, but that was just the way it was; Ike quickly realized that it may have been because he was _embarrassed _as to the size of it. Titania's house filled up the parlor and the kitchen, and that included the bedrooms upstairs. Just passing by it didn't give any justice to the actual size.

At the price of this, however, came an aching loneliness; his father was away on business again, and while there were a few maids that ran around occasionally, it was mostly him and Elice all alone. Marth almost seemed to prefer this, though; he seemed rather at ease leading Ike up the staircase to his room… and then the next one… and then the next one. Three stories up, he finally came to a room that was as large as Ike and Mist's, with a bit to spare. It was neat and orderly, and all things considered, much nicer.

Despite this, Ike found himself anything but envious. So much space would drive him _crazy._

Marth had started high school by this point, and therefore had more homework now than ever. Ike still had until the end of summer, at the very least, but the anticipation was enough for now. Marth reassured him that it wasn't that bad, though; just a heavier workload. And Ike could call him for study purposes whenever he wanted to, which was a relief in itself.

He entertained himself, now, by laying back on Marth's bed and throwing a ball up into the air, watching it soar towards the ceiling before falling back silently into his hands. He didn't want to disturb his friend, after all; he had the look on his face that he only ever got when he was either concentrating, or extremely frustrated, and Ike didn't really want to be snapped at today.

He blinked a little bit when he heard Marth's _pencil _snap for what must have been the fifth time in the past ten minutes, and as he caught the ball once more, he slowly looked over to his frustrated, flustered friend. He paused briefly before sitting up, one leg hanging off the edge of the bed and the other resting bent on the bed in front of him. "Okay, what's up?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Marth responded automatically, pausing in the middle of sharpening his pencil. He seemed to realize he was being more violent about it than was probably necessary, and seemed to be very careful about being casual. It rather ruined the illusion, at least to him.

"I think we both do," Ike replied simply, raising an eyebrow slowly. "I know you're a great actor and all, Marth, but your composure is hardly a hundred percent today."

"Well excuse me," his friend snapped, turning his head a little, "for being stressed about my schoolwork. Not like I have a bigger workload than you do, or anything! Not like I have to actually do things while you can sit around!"

Ike was quiet for a few moments longer, resting his elbow on his thigh and leaning his head against his hand. Finally, Marth sighed again and seemed to collect himself. "… I'm fine. I'm just overtired, or something," he mumbled, and Ike frowned again. Slowly, he stood up, coming to stand beside his friend and lean back against his desk, instead.

"Now you're not even _trying,_" he pointed out, eyebrows furrowing in concern. "Marth, you know you can tell me anything. Right? Anything at all? That's what best friends are for, typically…"

Marth was quiet for a few long moments after this, and he brought his pencil up to his lips, thoughtfully gnawing on the end of it as he tried to piece his thoughts together. Ike could see the puzzle slowly forming in his head, so much more complex than the cogs and wheels of years ago.

"My father," he finally decided on, setting the pencil back down on the table and sighing heavily. "I… decided that I wanted to join art classes next year, but my father said that… it was a waste of time, and that I should focus on something more respectable. He wants me to drop the violin, too, and I… ugh. Maybe he's right, Ike, I mean I'm not really that _great _in the first place, and-"

"Bullshit." He said it deadpan, and Marth glanced to him in shock. His features were set, however, and he frowned deeply. "And you and I _both _know it, Marth."

"No, well, I mean… it's hard to make any sort of living as an artist, and if I went into business-" Marth went on, glancing away from his friend's intense stare, but Ike bristled again.

"Then you'd be bored out of your mind. You _hate _math. You can do anything but work in an office, Marth, I promise you." Ike turned to face Marth now, one of his hands gripping the side of the desk and the other placed on his hip. The last thing he wanted to do was see Marth give up the two things he loved to do most! Especially not because his father thought it wasn't _respectable! _

"Yeah, but I could learn to do it more efficiently," he mumbled half-heartedly, leaning against his hand a bit and still avoiding Ike's gaze.

Ike frowned once again at this, shaking his head slowly. "Yes, you could," he said slowly, his fingers tapping on the desk lightly. "You most certainly could. But you _won't._ I know you won't."

"It's what he wants," Marth murmured softly, his face turning to look straight ahead. It wasn't at Ike, but it was closer. That was progress, he supposed. "And he always gets what he wants."

"Your father is a grown man, Marth, and if he can't deal with not getting every little thing on the planet to go his way, then I'm sorry that we have to _make _him grow up," Ike spat, feeling his anger rising a bit. Not at Marth, of course. But at the situation, at the actual hesitance he saw there, at the actual defeat. Subordination. "Because you won't go through with that. Do you know why?"

Marth was quiet for a few long moments where he simply stared straight ahead, looking at nothing. Finally, he slowly turned his gaze back to Ike, frowning in thought. "… Why?"

"I won't let you for anything, that's why!" Ike replied, turning and angrily pacing the large room. "And you won't let yourself, either. You can say that you'll do it, Marth, I know how you are, but you _won't. _You always sayI'm the most stubborn person you've ever seen, but hell if I'm anything next to you. You've got too much talent to throw it away. You've put too much into it. I know. I've _seen it. _And you are _not _that timid boy on the other side of the fence any longer." He turned around again, feeling as though his chest was burning. Marth was simply staring at him, evidently struck mute by his performance. Ike scowled, moving back to where he sat.

"What? What's the matter? Do you need a second opinion? A third? Fourth? I can go ask Mist right now; I can call Titania, I could ask Elice, I could ask my own _father, _and not a single one would disagree with me. _Your father _would go into business, Marth, but not you."

"He said I'd be a great disappointment," Marth murmured softly, frowning a bit. But Ike saw it there. The defiance that Marth always had, no matter how hopeless a cause seemed. Good. He was always the one who could move mountains with his words, not Ike. "And that he would never support me…"

"You don't need his support, you know that!" Ike frowned again, stepping over and clasping Marth firmly on the shoulders. He yanked him upwards, and then shook him back and forth a few times, grimacing. "Disappoint him! Rub it in his face! Make him _seething angry! _Do it all, because you don't need him. You have everyone else standing behind you, and they're always going to stand beside you, Marth. That's a promise."

Marth was quiet as he looked up at him, and Ike vaguely wondered when it was their heights had shifted places. He was supposed to be the little one, wasn't he?

Suddenly, Marth had slipped free of his grip, and was hugging him hard around the neck, eyes squeezed shut tight. "Are you going to be one?" Marth murmured. His were words a bit muffled by the other boy's neck, which he'd buried his face into. "Will you always support me, then?"

Ike paused for a moment or two, a bit surprised… before his hands slowly moved up, wrapping around the other boy and holding him tightly. "Duh," he replied simply, smiling again. "That's a really stupid question, because I'll always be your number one fan, Marth. I'm cheesy and ridiculous like that, yeah?"

Marth laughed softly again, and Ike could feel how light he felt out of that. It made his heart light to hear it again. "Do you promise…?" he still prompted quietly, loosening his arms just a little bit.

"I promise," he finally said, and he could feel the other boy's smile against his neck.

He certainly hoped that Marth couldn't feel the pounding of his chest.

* * *

The year after that, Ike understood what it meant to be _busy, _considering he was following in Marth's footsteps, always just behind him. Well, not in height; this was certainly the year that set them apart for good, with Ike an inch or so taller than the other bluenette. As would be the running trend from now on, he supposed. Regardless, even with all of the time it spent for him to get homework and assignments done, he still had the time to pick up the guitar, of all things. But his mother and father were more than willing to help him along the way, and Mist teased that she was glad that she could play some music along with him and not have to contend with his singing anymore.

That summer was also an odd one, because Titania had been forced to visit some of _her _family in another part of the country, which left them in a bit of a pickle. But, seeing as a summer without Ike or Marth together was nearly impossible to even _imagine, _they had to do something. So Marth had come to visit them, instead.

It was a bit more cramped, this one, but by this time things were different. Mist had claimed the guest bedroom as her own, deciding that she would rather not share one with her brother any longer, which meant that Marth would be sleeping with Ike every night in his bedroom. Ike didn't mind much, and Marth didn't seem to, either, though they did end up in some slightly odd positions along the way. Mist took the trouble of photographing nearly every one so that they wouldn't miss out, of course.

Many things this summer were exactly the same, seeing as Gaul wasn't too different from their usual residence. It was just that this forest had plenty of places to explore that were all _new, _and Ike could teach Marth things, for once. He could introduce him to others, show him around, and teach him new things, which was rather exciting. What Marth didn't seem prepared for, however, was the relative cold, and he wasn't always pleased due to it. Regardless, he got over the fact rather quickly, instead opting to look on the bright side: the sun wouldn't try and burn off every inch of his skin possible this year, at the very least.

There were a lot of nights were the two of them would hide up on the roof and simply talk until the sun threatened to expose them. It was about ridiculous things that teenagers thought about more often than they probably should; what they would be doing in the future, college-wise, job-wise, life-wise, in particular.

"Maybe I'll just ditch everything and become a traveling musician," Ike mused one night, cushioning his head with his arms as he lay back on the singles. They didn't have a very steep roof, and since his room was on the top floor, it was easy to do this without the risk of being detected, or at any sort of risk, really, aside from falling asleep up there and it suddenly beginning to rain. "That seems much more fun than going to study for a job I might end up hating, anyways."

Marth chuckled softly in response to this, propping himself up with his arms behind him as he gazed up at the stars. "I can see you doing that," he mused softly, shaking his head. "And it's _disturbingly _vivid, too… but I think you're too smart to limit yourself to that kind of thing, you know. You could also teach people how to tame small animals to _play _instruments with you. That would gather quite the crowd, I'm sure."

"Nah, that might be a little over the top," Ike replied, grinning a bit. "I mean, where would I get instruments that tiny, anyways? Would you make them for me, to my very exact specifications?"

"_No, Marth," _the other boy said, bringing his finger up and waggling it for emphasis as he dropped his voice an octave. _"This string's supposed to go three-fourths of a millimeter to the left, how am I supposed to work with this? _Golly, doesn't that sound like fun? But no, since woodcraft isn't exactly my forte, I'll have to decline. But I'll certainly paint your little instruments, free of charge."

Ike huffed a little bit at this, pouting slightly. "Weeeeeell, alright. Fine. If you were anyone else, I would blame you for copping out on me, but I guess you're _special_." It was entirely true; more and more often, he found himself getting flustered just _thinking _about his best friend. And that was just ridiculous, wasn't it?

His mother hadn't thought so when he went to consult her about it, because _yes, _he had been so inclined. But never his father and never Mist, because his father would probably just get kind of awkward and reassure him that liking another boy was 'nothing to be ashamed of, that he was still his son, and he would love him very much.' Which he appreciated, certainly, but it wasn't much help at all.

But his mother had given him the advice to mature just a bit more before he made a decision. As stupid as it was, it very well just could be a phase, but if he was so sure it wasn't, then he could do whatever he felt was right.

Frankly, he didn't have a single idea as to what was _right, _so he simply coped with having an irritating sense of uncertainty, with feeling his ears heat up occasionally, with being oddly pleased that his friend was beside him every night. Because friends was all that they were, and probably would ever be. What was the chance that Marth was _gay, _after all?

Said probably-not-gay boy simply laughed softly at his comment, shaking his head. "I'm glad I'm so special to you, in that case."

That was when they faded into the comfortable silence that had become far more common as they got older. Sometimes, they just found that talking was unnecessary, or something cliché like that. Maybe it was because they'd already talked about so many things before that it just seemed like a bother, now? No, not a bother… it was hard to explain, even to himself.

Perhaps it was just because they'd both mellowed out with time? That seemed a more reasonable explanation considering Ike was typically more than happy to slip into it now, whereas the silence would've been stifling when he was little. Odd.

Even so, the silence _was _stifling this time around, because there was something eating at the back of Ike's mind. It had been on his mind since he started high school, primarily because the instructors there liked to bring up the subject whenever possible. Everything seemed to connect to it and lead to it, and even if they hardly ever brought up what would come up after it, it was irritating enough alone. And rather stressful, frankly.

"Marth?" he asked softly, and the other shifted out of that lost-in-thought expression to look to him, raising an eyebrow slowly.

"Hmm?"

Ike simply studied him for a few moments, biting at the inside of his cheek as he thought about how to phrase this. "You're a year ahead of me in school," he started off, glancing aside when he saw Marth raise his other eyebrow to join the first.

"Yes, that's a pretty good observation, there," he replied in clear _where-are-you-going-with-this _fashion.

"Which means that you'll graduate a year before me," Ike continued slowly, still averting his eyes and feeling suddenly embarrassed for bringing it up so childishly. But he saw Marth nod a little bit out of the corner of his eye, so he sighed and continued. "Which means you'll probably go to college before me, because you could afford it pretty easily…"

"Well, maybe not directly after high school, but theoretically, yes." There was a questioning air to this statement, as well, and perhaps a bit of concern, as well.

"And you're probably going to go to art school, aren't you?"

"One with at least a good art program…"

Ike was quiet for a few moments afterwards, looking back up at the clear sky. It seemed to be a ridiculous thing to worry about, now that he really thought about it, and he had no clue why he brought up the subject in the first place. With that in mind, he tried to recover again, opening his mouth to reply, "Alright, well, then you can tell me what it's like, just like with hi-"

"Ike." Marth's voice was gentle, and one of his hands reached out to gently touch his shoulder. "You _do _know that we'll always be friends… right? Even if I move away, or something. We've never even lived in the same town in the first place, and we've always been friends."

"Yeah, but you're right down the road," Ike argued, and then looked away when he realized that he'd given himself away, ears burning. "That's… not the same as you being on the other side of the country, or something."

"No," his friend agreed, smiling reassuringly. "It's not, but that doesn't mean much. I could still come visit you in the summers, more likely than not. And we could still talk, otherwise; Skype exists, you know?"

Ike was quiet for a few long moments, still frowning in thought, before he slowly turned to look at his friend again. "Do you promise?" he asked meekly, feeling even more like a child than before, but he didn't really care.

"I promise," Marth replied, and he leaned down to wrap him up in a hug. Ike felt somehow unsatisfied by all of this, but he accepted it gladly, sighing softly. It would have to be enough.

* * *

And it was enough, up until the next year. Because all of a sudden, he seemed to realize that he would never be able to look at his best friend the same way. Because he was too much; he was everything that he wanted, now, but he would never be able to have that, because Marth was his best friend. His _best friend, _and he was his, in turn, and that's all that it would ever be. Sometimes, Mist talked about having a crush on one of the green-haired boys down the street, and it was weird. Because Ike looked at him and knew that he was probably an idiot, and saw how much he teased her, but she teased back. And it was like clockwork, and he supposed that was why she liked him, and why he probably liked her back.

His little sister was better at romance than he was, and that was sickening in itself.

Titania was back this year, though, which meant that the slightly-crooked picket fence was within their grasp. By now, they'd outgrown most of their childhood games; gone were the times of princesses and knights, of exploring for secret colonies of elves in the woods, pretending to be sneaky ninjas when they stole cookies from the counter that were intentionally left out for them. They didn't try and spy on the other kids who walked by, and the playground felt much too small for their rapidly growing selves.

So instead, they turned to less imaginative games and more stable ones; card games, video games, the games of wit. They still explored, certainly, because the forest held endless mysteries and hiding spots where they could do just about anything. They even found a _lake, _but this was only after going a good distance away from the path. It was good fun on a particularly hot summer day, at least, even if Ike found himself unable to look at Marth for too long. Not that the other seemed to notice.

And that was really all that _happened _that year, apart from Ike serenading his friend with his guitar that he was becoming annoyingly good at, and Marth returning the favor with his violin. They often did duets between sparring, and it was ridiculously good fun. The same with the year after that, except…

There was a day when they'd gone out to explore in the forest again, and they were rather deep in when they decided to take a break. Ike was leaning against a tree, his eyes closed as he dozed, and Marth was exploring the area before he plopped down beside his best friend and nibbled on their supply of snacks.

"You think the lake's too far from here?" Marth asked briefly, and Ike opened an eye as he considered.

"Mmm… probably not," he replied, opening his eyes slowly to look back over at the other boy again. "But today is _not _a day to be walking home sopping wet, so we would at least have to go home first. Unless you just want to jump in, yourself. I wouldn't dream of stopping you."

Marth laughed softly at this, shaking his head. "Okay, fair enough. I was just wondering because I _might have _lost track of where we are."

"Oh." Ike tried to weigh the chance that Marth was joking or not, but simply shrugged. It didn't really matter either way. "Well, in that case, I would be glad to get us even more lost. Maybe to the point where no one can hear us yelling and we just have to build a home of our own. Sounds like a blast, doesn't it?"

"With you, maybe," Marth replied with a small grin, raising an eyebrow. "But no, I have a general idea, so that might not be entirely necessary. I'll keep the offer in mind, though."

"Always glad to help," Ike replied, and then they fell into silence once again. It felt like there was something hanging in the air, though; it was oddly… expectant, as if something was bound to happen at any moment. With this in mind, he turned to look at his friend slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"Something the matter?" he asked softly, after a brief pause. Marth jumped a little, his slender fingers closing around the pebble he'd been fidgeting with.

"Oh. Uh, no, not… not really," he mumbled, blinking a few times. That little stutter there was so uncharacteristic of his friend that Ike raised an eyebrow, turning to him fully.

"Marth," he said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. The other oddly shrunk from it for a brief moment before relaxing again, closing his eyes. "Really."

There was a long silence, and he almost thought that Marth was going to ignore him, but he finally opened his eyes again. "Do you know that feeling, when…. When you look at someone, and you feel like your heart is going to implode?"

Ike blinked a few times at this, his heart dropping a little bit before he simply smiled. "I believe that's called having a _crush, _Marth," he teased gently, tapping his chest with his other hand. "Has our tin man finally grown a heart?"

"Shut up, Ike, I'm serious," Marth mumbled, and Ike slowly lowered his hand again, frowning in concern. "I… I've got the feeling, but I also feel like I _shouldn't. _You know…?"

Ike blinked slowly at this, tilting his head and considering for a few long moments. "Well," he finally began, "kind of. Why? Why for the shouldn't, I mean, not the feeling."

His friend's mouth twisted slightly, as if he had the words but couldn't force them out. "A lot of reasons," he finally settled on, rather evasively. At the blank look he received from Ike, however, he sighed again, leaning forward and touching his toes restlessly. "Like... Like that they're cooler than me, I guess? Really out of my league? And they..." He trailed off, suddenly, like he regretted opening another door. "I don't know. They'll never like me back, so it just feels useless."

The taller boy raised his eyebrows slightly, drumming the fingers of one hand against the other. "Well, I guess there's no harm in it, right?" he asked with a small shrug, tilting his head. "Crushes aren't really a big deal, so she probably won't even-"

"It's a boy." It was stated so bluntly that Ike was taken aback for a moment, and his silence seemed enough to make Marth cringe ever so slightly. "The person I have a crush on. It's a boy."

He struggled for words for a few moments, wondering for a moment just how he should respond. And then mentally hitting himself for wondering that. "There's nothing wrong with that, Marth. Love who you want to love," he said gently, and the other seemed to relax a little bit, obviously relieved. Had he honestly been so worried? "What, do you think he's some sort of homophobic ass, or something?"

"No!" Marth replied a bit too sharply, eyes widening a bit. "I mean... no. He's my friend, so I know him pretty well, but... I don't know if he'd look at me the same way. I just don't want to make things weird, or something. He means a lot to me."

Ike felt a twinge of jealousy in his gut all of a sudden, and he frowned inwardly. Who was it, then, that Marth felt so close to? Close enough to fall in love with? "Who?" He regretted the sudden burst as soon as it left his mouth, because all of a sudden, Marth seemed a bit cornered.

"I-I'd rather not say," he mumbled, glancing anywhere but at Ike, who frowned outwardly this time as he pressed him.

"Why not? You know I'm not going to make fun of you or tell anyone or anything, right?"

"Of course I do!" Marth replied with slight panic, and he felt a sudden surge of guilt. "I trust you, Ike, I really do. I just... I just don't know if you'd like it, or if you'd think it's _weird _or something."

Ike tilted his head a little bit at this, and he frowned slowly as he tried to piece together everything he knew. A boy, that Marth was friends with - close friends with - that he didn't want to lose. That Ike would think was weird, even though he just explicitly stated he didn't care that his friend was apparently gay, or bi, or pan, or whatever he was? Was he just being hopeful, looking for any kind of sign, or was it actually...

"What, have I managed to woo you or something?" He said it lightheartedly, even smiled a bit, so that it could be taken as a joke in case he was wrong. Whenever he was faced with a situation like this in the past, one so difficult to answer, he'd always jumped to _yes. _To play with Marth, to be so reckless, to try and do what he thought was right. But this was different. This was more delicate, and he had to test the waters, first.

His friend suddenly hesitated, though- No, he froze completely, as if he'd been caught in the act of something. He was halfway through opening his mouth a few seconds later, but Ike cut him off before he got a chance.

"Because if that's what this is, then that's completely fine." Marth slowly turned to look at him, and Ike smiled gently, hesitating for a few moments, himself. And then he leaned forwards slightly, so that he was just a few inches from the other boy. He wondered if he looked as hopeful as Marth did, just now. "Because, honestly... that's how I feel, too."

Marth's lips were warm and soft, and he wouldn't be lying if he said that was how he had imagined them in the past. What was better, however, was the relief as Marth returned his kiss and slid his arms around his neck, and the feel that came with Ike wrapping his arms around Marth's waist and pulling them together. For a few long moments, it was almost perfect, but then Marth pulled back. Smiling, though, so that was a plus.

"So," Ike added rather conversationally, raising an eyebrow slightly, "was that weird, then? I'd hate to disappoint you, you know."

Marth's lips curled upwards into a smile again, and he moved until he was practically in the other's lap; Ike could feel his pulse beating against Marth's, and the other murmured a very soft, "No weirder than you always are."

Then they connected again, this time with all of the passion two hormone-filled, sexually frustrated teenage boys possessed. Marth's fingers slowly moved up to bury in Ike's hair, twisting into the strands and pulling on them gently; Ike's wandered slowly up the other's back, making his back arc a little bit. Their tongues clashed against each other, and it was a few long minutes before they both pulled back, panting a bit. They still held each other close, in the same position, with Marth resting his head on Ike's shoulder, and there was only the sound of their breathing until the older let out a breathy laugh in Ike's ear.

"Is that… Should I take that as a yes, then?" he said softly, finally loosening his grip on the spikey blue strands. Ike blinked a little, before he laughed as well.

"I dunno, I might have to think about it," he breathed, shaking his head slowly. "But, mm… if you're going to put my on the spot… I think I'll say yes. Only because it's you, though."

Marth laughed softly again, and it was such a joyful sound that Ike's heart soared even further. The former's arms shifted so that he was hugging the other around the shoulders again, and once more, he felt those lips curl into a wonderful smile. "I was… hoping you'd say something like that…"

* * *

Thus was the beginning of what was _probably _the light of Ike's life, which was a rather cliché thing in general. Not that he cared in the slightest; he was just unbelievably happy about it. Mist teased him – no, both of them, because Marth was practically her brother, too. Titania said she'd suspected it all along, which was probably bullshit. And his parents were just happy that he was happy.

Marth's father didn't get to join in on the festivities, but Elice did, and she was happy too… and all of that more or less led to now, Ike supposed. Because it was a year later, and it was summer again, and they were still dating, but they were hardly children. Marth was leaving, and soon. And it was going to _destroy him, _he knew it.

He'd been more than excited to come into town again that year, because while he could talk to Marth all he wanted, it wasn't the same as being able to hold him close or to just be in the same room as him. And it may or may not have been connected to the fact that he was of legal age now. Maybe.

But, by crazy circumstance, there had been a series of terrible storms that summer that made them stay in Gaul until the very end of summer, and his mother had gotten terribly sick, and it was all timed in the most awful way he could imagine. He almost considering _walking _a few times, but his mom needed him and she'd been there for him so often that he couldn't imagine leaving her when she needed _him. _And she'd made it through, which was a relief in itself. But then they didn't have the chance to go down until the _last _week of summer… and Marth hadn't been there. At least, not with him; every time Ike went to the door to ask about him, his father answered, and Mr. Lowell had never been fond if Ike. Which resulted in a door to the face almost every time.

And by that morning, the end of the week, instead of going by to Marth's house again, he simply went on a walk through the woods. Because if he went near the Lowell mansion again, he was almost _positive _he would be shot. On the spot.

Which was why he'd missed Marth when he came out to check for him in the backyard, but that night, he went out to check again. And was he glad that he did. Marth was there, awkwardly fidgeting with the plank that was still loose. They could probably squeeze through it now, if they really tried hard enough…

At the sound of footsteps, the other's bright eyes looked up at him, widening slightly. They were both silent when Ike stepped over to the fence, and they faced one another with an odd sense of anxiety.

"You know," Marth finally said, smiling teasingly, "I thought that you weren't going to come visit me this year… I had the mourning clothes and everything. Oh, _whenever _will my husband return from the war!" he said more dramatically, but Ike could hear the relief beneath the joking. Regardless, he smiled warmly.

"Fear not, my dear, for I'm here now," he replied with a small smile, leaning over and kissing Marth gently on the lips. He'd missed that feeling, the slight scent of roses and lavender. "But… I suppose you're going to be leaving pretty soon, aren't you? At least, I am again, and I suppose you won't wait too long after me." He studied his boyfriend with slight anxiety, watching as his smile turned a bit sad.

"Yeah… you already know I got accepted, right? I told you a little while ago, before your phone line went out," Marth murmured, and Ike nodded in response. Marth sighed, glancing aside as he seemed to wrestle an important question in his mind. "… I don't even know if I want to go," he murmured softly, running his fingers through his bangs in frustration. "Like, I mean, a lot of people say that art school is a waste of time, and the college you were looking at is way the hell away, and I… just…"

Ike studied the boy in front of him quietly, blinking slowly. He could probably convince Marth to stay, he realized. Convince him rather easily, just by saying he could find better opportunity elsewhere, by mentioning how much he'd miss him, by saying that he'd be better at pursuing something else, anyways. If he remained silent, he could convince him just as well.

So instead, he leaned lightly against the fence, looking up at the sky and considering. Should he stop him? In the case of a question with no real answer, Ike had always said yes, but… not this time, he didn't think. No, for once, he'd have to change his answer.

This was for Marth, after all. This wasn't for him.

"You want to go," he replied instead, looking back down at the boy in front of him. "I know you do, because you were so excited that you were going to be able to. You tried to hide it, Marth, you really did. But you're not always a perfect actor." He smiled a little bit at this, tilting his head reassuringly. "You love art. I know you do. _You _know your do, and your dad can go fuck himself for all I care. You _amaze _me with what you can do, and you can be even better. That's where you need to be. Putting yourself out there, not stuck in this little town because you just might see me again. You don't need to limit yourself just for _me. _I might just take personal offense, at that."

Marth seemed to be struck dumb at this, and he simply stared at Ike for several long, stifling moments. Ike couldn't tell if he'd said the right thing or not, and he was almost certain that he hadn't, but Marth finally smiled warmly, shaking his head. "God, Ike…" he mumbled softly, and he lifted himself up and over the fence to be able to hug him properly, fitting his face right into the crook of his neck. Right where it perfectly belonged. His eyes felt a little bit went, but Ike ignored it as he wrapped one arm around the bluenette's waist, bringing his other hand to stroke his head gently.

Finally, Marth pulled back a little bit, smiling warmly at him again. "You're so sweet and sappy," he murmured softly, reaching up and kissing him gently on the lips. "I dunno what I would do without you…"

"Shhh, shh," Ike replied, smiling again. "De might hear you. He still thinks that I'm a badass, I think, from when we were little. We don't want him thinking otherwise, of course."

Marth laughed softly once again, and Ike would never tire of it. "Then… I suppose I'll have to say goodbye to you in the morning. And don't you go complaining about missing me, next year!" he warned, but he was still smiling, despite himself. "Because I'll be missing you, too, mister. And you brought this upon yourself."

"Well, there's Skype, and phones, and the long-forgotten technique of letters if all else fails, so I think we'll be alright," Ike murmured softly, shaking his head a little bit. "So you won't be able to get rid of me for _too _long."

"Maybe I can come see you in the summer, again," Marth murmured, tilting his head slightly. "Or send you out to see me… either way, I'll be able to punch you in the face for making me feel so happy and sad at the same time."

"Please, by all means," Ike replied, smiling as he kissed him again, lifting him up and twirling him around once. Just to mess with him, really. Because what he said was completely true, but that was the sacrifice that you had to made for the people you loved, he supposed.

For having no right answer, he supposed this would have to be close enough.


End file.
